President Hoover welcomed all attendees to the convention and recognized the FFAM officers and directors.

Past President Keith Smith presented the Nominating Committee slate for the 2018 FFAM officer elections. Positions for election are District 4 Director, District 5 Director, District 9 Director and District 10 Director.

The following individuals are seeking election for those respective positions: Joe Vaughn, District 4, Director; Terry Plumb, District 5, Director; Roy Sims, District 9, Director; Greg Brown, District 10, Director.

President Hoover made final announcements. President Hoover closed the opening session at 7:20 p.m.

AWARDS BANQUET

Welcome to all in attendance to the 64th Annual FFAM Convention by St. Joseph Fire Chief Mike Dalsing.

Keynote Speaker, Overland Park, Kansas, Fire Chief Bryan Dehner gave a presentation on the March 20, 2017, 8-Alarm City Place Apartment fire and the impact of having good working relationships with your mutual aid departments.

Head table introductions were given by Chief Dalsing.

St. Joseph Fire Department Chaplain Floyd Ferguson gave the invocation followed by the meal.

President Hoover gave closing remarks. The banquet was followed by the dance.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

President Kenneth Hoover called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 a.m., Sunday, May 6, 2018, at the Stoney Creek Hotel in St. Joseph, Missouri.

President Hoover asked for additions to the agenda. Rick Dozier moved to accept the agenda as presented. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.

Minutes

President Hoover asked for corrections or additions to the April 21–23, 2017, convention and the December 3, 2017, board meeting minutes. Greg Wright moved to accept them as presented. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report

President Hoover asked for a review of the November-December 2017, and the January-March 2018, financial reports. Rick Dozer moved to accept the financial report as presented. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s)

Acting Director Kevin Zumwalt with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute expressed appreciation to the St. Joseph Fire Department and the FFAM for hosting the convention.

MU FRTI fiscal year ends June 30. This fiscal year 671 classes have been scheduled, 500 completed, 11,000 students enrolled with over 130,000 student contact hours. These number are up from the previous year.

Summer Fire School (SFS) will be held May 16–20, in Columbia. Registrations are still being accepted and everyone is encouraged to attend. SFS will also be held during the annual firefighter’s memorial service in Kingdom City. They are working on securing transportation for anyone at the training who wishes to attend the services.

There will soon be changes to the Fire Officer Certificate Program. Columbia College has approved the curriculum and they are working finalizing the partnership. 84 people are currently enrolled in the program and 265 people have completed it.

They are currently working on training funding proposals that will be submitted to the Division of Fire Safety by May 25. Firefighter standards in training are in the works. Twenty basic firefighter classes have been delivered around the state so far this year along with continuing to administer Firefighter I and II live skills testing around the state.

Zumwalt encouraged everyone to be in contact with your MU FRTI regional coordinators to request and communicate what trainings you would like to see in your area.

State Fire Marshal Tim Bean with the Division of Fire Safety advised that since last year, they have been working towards firefighter standards in training however, the priority has been placed on the firefighter presumptive cancer legislation. Statistics are showing a tremendous spike in cancer in firefighters. It is imperative to clean and decontaminate your gear by using the proper extractors and cleaning equipment.

There has been a 15% increase in certification classes with over 1,000 people getting certified. The Division has worked on bringing testing back to the departments throughout the state instead of solely in Jefferson City. NFPA 1403 is a new live fire training standard that requires a person be certified to conduct live fire burns. Contact the Division if you would like to get live fire certified.

New Firefighter I and II and hazardous materials curriculum is out. There is a one-day update available for instructors regarding the changes and updates.

The Division held a memorial stair climb on September 8, 2017, to raise money for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. They will be holding this again in 2018 and a website will be available soon for the event.

Bean advised that so far in 2018, there have been 44 fire fatalities in Missouri which is the 3rd highest rate in the nation. Of these fatalities, only one had a working smoke alarm. The American Red Cross has a program that provides free smoke alarms and they will partner with any fire department and help get working smoke alarms in your community. Contact the Division if you need information on how to contact the American Red Cross.

Correspondence

No correspondence was received.

Sergeant-at-Arms Reynolds conducted a roll call of the delegates. There were 39 delegates and 15 officers present.

Unfinished Business

There is no unfinished business.

New Business

Secretary Jaime Miller presented the Accountants’ Compilation Report and Financial Statements for the year ending December 31, 2016. RB Brown moved to accept the report as presented. Grant Oetting seconded the motion and all approved.

1st Vice President Larry Jennings opened the discussion regarding the 2017 year-end funds and the possible options of investing the year end, reserve and benevolence funds to earn a higher interest rate than they currently do. Discussion followed. The Board directed Jennings to proceed with gathering investment options and rates and present at the June meeting.

President Hoover advised that RB Brown has requested the appointment of Andrew Caldwell of Boles FPD to District 7 Assistant Director. Terry Wynne moved to accept the appointment. Joe Vaughn seconded the motion and all approved. President Hoover then advised that due to lack of attendance at meetings and participation for a long period of time, the following Assistant Directors would be removed from their positions: District 4 Jim Henry, District 6 Bill Hilden and District 11 Roger Meyers. RB Brown has also requested that Ed Kriska be removed as Assistant Director of District 7.

Sergeant-at-Arms Reynolds presented a bylaws revision to include new membership classifications for EMS agencies and 9-1-1 agencies. Discussion followed. A hand count vote was held. The bylaws revision passed with a count of 54 yes and 0 no.

Keith Smith reported that four positions are up for election. The nominations are Joe Vaughn, District 4 Director; Terry Plumb, District 5 Director; Roy Sims, District 9 Director; Greg Brown, District 10 Director. Don Hahne moved to approve the director appointments as presented. Rick Dozier seconded the motion. The motion passed with no opposing votes.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee

Joe Jennings reported that the committee is reviewing the current award guidelines. If anyone has suggestion regarding the awards, please contact him. Nominations can be made throughout the year and is encouraged so that those worthy of the awards aren’t missed or forgotten as time passes.

Budget Committee

Larry Jennings reported that he will be working with the Secretary-Treasurer to review income and spending trends. He encouraged all committee chairman to watch their budgets and spending. If income trends show a decrease, budgets may get cut.

Bylaws Committee

No report was given.

Chaplain Committee

David Hedrick reported that Missouri Fire Chaplain Corp annual meeting/training will be on May 14-15, in Arnold, Missouri. They did have an exhibit at Winter Fire School and recruited several new chaplains.

Contest Committee

Rob Erdel extended thanks to everyone who assisted with setting up and judging the contest. Everything went very well. He will be working on some needed trailer repairs.

Convention Committee

Larry Jones thanked St. Joseph FD and Chief Dalsing for hosting this year’s convention. So far, no departments have expressed interest in hosting the convention in 2019. Discussion will be held at the June meeting on the FFAM board hosting the convention and a location.

Education Committee

Rick Dozier reported that 18 attended the Certified Fire and Ambulance District Board of Directors training held on Friday. Get any class proposal ideas to him.

Fire Prevention Committee

RB Brown thanked everyone who participated in the poster contest. 66 posters were received from 7 departments. He challenged each director to work in their communities to get more posters submitted. Any organization, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, PTO’s, homeschool groups, etc., can participate and is not limited to schools as many schools have a set curriculum and are unable to participate. Little Dixie FPD advised that they hold an annual open house and invite kids to come to the fire station and design and complete their posters during the event. They have had a great success with this type of event.

Legislative Committee

Greg Brown reported Firefighter Day at the Capitol was a big success and he thanked everyone who attended. He encouraged everyone to get to know their local legislators. Firefighter training funding is still budgeted, and the Fire Education Commission is working with vendors on training proposals. There is a grant program line item in the state budget with an available $1 million to assist volunteer fire departments with workers compensation funding. This grant program will go through the Division of Fire Safety and they are currently working on the program and requirements. The MO Chiefs are working on reorganizing the Fire Education Commission. The filing false liens bill will most likely pass making it a felony. HB1456 9-1-1 legislation passed the House and Senate Committees and is now on the Senate floor. Missouri is the only state that doesn’t have a 9-1-1 cell tax. The cancer bill has been held up in committee. There are lots of political issues. The Missouri Fire Service Alliance is looking at how to propose the bill again next year. HB1721 regarding donated equipment by companies or organizations bill failed.

President Hoover did advise that FFAM donated $500 towards Firefighter Day at the Capitol.

Keith Smith reported that he and Greg Wright did not attend the spring NVFC conference in Washington DC. NVFC continues to grow and expand their Heart Healthy and Share the Load campaigns. The Share the Load campaign is receiving approximately 200 calls per month. They are also expanding their virtual classroom for members and the Make Me a Firefighter campaign has reached over 8000 visitors online. They are working to expand their EMS resources too.

Scholarship Committee

Terry Plumb encouraged those who submit scholarship applications to fill them out correctly and to submit all required documentation. Several applications that were received were rejected by the committee for failing to meet the application requirements.

State Fair Committee

Monty Thompson reported that applications were due May 1. Lots were received. Work weekends will be June 8-10, and July 13-15.

Website Committee

No report was given.

Newsletter

The deadline for the next newsletter will be the morning of May 8.

Historian report

Grant Oetting reported that on June 2, all historical items located at Kay Asher’s residence will be loaded and moved to Kingdom City. Anyone available to help is welcome and just needs to contact him for details.

Funeral Team report

Brian Zinanni reported that the team assisted in 22 non-LODD and 6 LODD services in Missouri and Iowa last year. They have assisted in 12 non-LODD services this year so far. They have just replaced an older trailer with a new one and continue to maintain their equipment so it is available for use anytime.

Foundation report

Keith Smith reported the Annual Memorial Service is May 19, at 9:00 p.m., and May 20, at 10:30 a.m., in Kingdom City. The guest speaker on Sunday is Tim Bean. The foundation has also partnered with an architect in St. Louis who is working with them pro bono on the museum project. New plans have been presented and a request for bids has been sent out.

1st Vice President Larry Jennings read and presented Chief Mike Dalsing and St. Joseph Fire Department with a resolution on behalf of the FFAM for hosting the annual convention.

Rick Dozier moved to adjourn the meeting. Greg Wright seconded the motion and all approved.